Toronto FC still has issues

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RYAN WOLSTAT, QMI Agency

Though happy faces were put on by all Toronto FC employees at media day Wednesday at BMO Field, it is clear the club’s new management team has issues it must quickly take care of.

After some prodding, captain and all-time leading scorer Dwayne De Rosario revealed that he isn’t comfortable risking his future by playing this season without guarantees added to his contract.

De Rosario, like most of his compatriots, has been toiling seemingly forever without guarantees, he is in an option year and said he has to think about his livelihood and providing for his family, meaning he can’t risk getting injured with no financial promises looming down the line.

Given that he is one of the greatest performers in Major League Soccer’s history and TFC's most dangerous player, De Rosario has a point and it is hard to see TFC letting this situation linger with camp opening in Turkey later this week.

De Rosario said he believes a deal will be completed, but also pointed out if getting the details ironed out were a huge priority for new technical director/head coach Aron Winter and general manager Paul Mariner, “It would have gotten done a long time ago.”

For the first time, De Rosario came out and said he should be given a designated player contract. Fellow Torontonian Julian de Guzman is the teams’ only existing DP, after Spanish bust Mista was let go in the off-season.

"It's what I think I deserve," he said.

De Rosario also said he had no regrets about how his off-season trial with legendary Scottish side Celtic was handled “I didn’t know there was confusion (on TFC’s part about him being in Scotland) until I saw some press release,” De Rosario said, before adding to reporters: “If the New York Times asked you to write for them would you go?”

De Rosario clarified that he had no intentions of staying with Celtic, but said he saw a short-term loan with the club as a great opportunity that would have improved his play upon his return to MLS.

Less troublesome, but still affairs that need to be put in order are the contract situations of Canadian defenders Nana Attakora and team MVP Adrian Cann, arguably the top defensive performers in Toronto in 2010.

Attakora said he did not sign a new deal in the off-season because he wanted to let the front office and coaching situation settle first. Now that the new regime is in place, Attakora sounded hopeful a deal would quickly be worked out.

Cann was more hesitant, saying the situation is a bit of a distraction that he hopes his agent will take care of.

De Guzman said he will start running again in Turkey following off-season knee surgery and expects to be 100% by the time TFC’s training camp shifts to Charleston, South Carolina on March 2nd.